Family Guy (TV Series) Play It Again, Brian (2008) User Reviews

Amazing episode, bad ending

[conradvandeneede · 8/10 · 18 November 2023]

So, I am one of those people who will always root for Brian to get with Lois. Why?

This episode proves my point. Peter is a massive ass to his wife and Brian bonds with her over the vacation, during the fantastic montage at the 10-minute mark. Seth MacFarlane's rendition of "As Time Goes By" gives me goosebumps and is wonderfully sung. Personally, this episode could've easily been a ten out of ten if Lois was a bit more in character and Brian actually got his gal. And of course, the r**e scene was pretty uncomfortable and should've been handled with some more class, same with the chicken fight between Peter and Brian. I feel this episode could've been a great chance to switch up the Family Guy dynamic (a la Season 4's The Perfect Castaway), but it's a status quo show, I get it. Still a great episode, just missed potential.

A Family Guy Classic.

[TheFunkyBass · 9/10 · 3 July 2013]

Well, first of all, I just loved how Seth MacFarlane sang "As Time Goes By". His voice is just remarkable on this track. Truly, a very talented man.

Secondly, I liked the references to Woody Allen's "Play It Again, Sam", like the song "As Time Goes By" and the title's name itself. Can't say anymore without giving away spoilers of the episode and the movie. I laughed my head off at the Three's Company reference, you can really see Seth's love for 70's TV shows.

You can see many of the characteristics from Seth and Brian, like how they are both Scotch Whiskey aficionados. Overall, this was a great Family Guy episode, one that lives up to the standards of Season 4 (my personal favorite season).

A bad episode for both Brian and Peter

[Sapphify · 2/10 · 24 August 2021]

This episode explores Brian's unrequited love for Lois again. Not a bad topic to explore, there's potential since despite Brian being happy to just be Lois' friend in the episode "Brian in love", he hasn't quite gotten over his feelings for her.

However, the episode itself feels forced and like a cheap excuse for drama. I can buy Peter spending time with the guys over Lois, but moments like his aggressive laughter feel out of character, like they're trying too hard to get us to root against him, instead of it feeling like something he'd naturally do.

What Brian does to Lois is disgusting and clearly unacceptable, but then it plays sad music like we're meant to feel bad for him when he gets kicked out? They just gloss over this part of the story to get to a fight scene. We barely even get to see how Lois feels about what happened, it's made to be more about Peter.

Luckily, the side-plot is serviceable and there's a few decent jokes. The song might be catchy but it uses up time that could've been spent on expanding the characters. I get that it's a comedy but if you introduce dramatic ideas like this you should expand on them.

"Brian in love" took the situation seriously, but also made time for lots of quick jokes. There weren't any over-the-top fights or random songs, everything felt natural and you could understand all the characters' motivations. Unlike here, which just doesn't work with the story they're trying to tell.